I’m getting back into cooking and I found this BERRY AND BUTTERMILK CAKE recipe in “Apples for jam” by Tessa Kiros. And it was handy I had fresh blueberries in my fridge ( a very limited and expensive season here in Perth). Very simple to make, not much sugar in it and quick to bake.
315g plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
90g caster sugar
freshly ground nutmeg
2 eggs
250ml (1 cup) buttermilk
60g butter, melted
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
150g fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons Demerara sugar
makes 12-15 squares
Method:
- Preheat oven to 200°C. grease and flour a 30×20cm tin with sides at least 5cm high.
- Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and add the sugar and a few grinds of nutmeg. Put the eggs in a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. Add the buttermilk, butter and lemon zest and beat together well. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix gently with a wooden spoon just until everything is combined. If you beat too hard the cake will be tough.
- Spoon the mixture into the tin, spreading it thinly to reach all four sides. Scatter the blueberries over the top and sprinkle these with Demerara sugar
- Put in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into squares. This keeps well in a biscuit tin for up to a week.
- Eat!
Tessa Kiros says that strawberries also work but suggests that frozen berries are ” a bit too mushy and will collapse”. I think that as long as they are defrosted and strained, it should be ok.
The cake’s texture is a bit “spongy”. Next time, I will add berries in the mix as well as on top of the cake. I used ground nutmeg because I don’t have any fresh. Be careful with the amount you put in, nutmeg has a strong flavour.
I didn’t have a rectangular tin, so I used a 20cm round cake tin. I baked the cake for about 40 minutes, until there was a bit of colour from the sugar on top.
Nice and simple. I like the addition of some nutmeg. I agree, having some berries in the cake would be an improvement. Good that there is not too much sugar. I might serve it with a dollop,of Greek yoghurt.